Lemonade
by deviant puppet
Summary: [WIP] [KaiJou]


Title: Lemonade  
Author: Deviant Puppet  
Rating: PG  
Pairing(s): KaiJou, mentions of YY and BakuHonRyou  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: All characters are property of their respective owners. If they were mine, there would be more interesting "duels" happening in the series. Oh, and no money involved either.  
Summary: As if things weren't bad enough, they actually get... -better-? Jou's luck is thrown for a loop on this most particular day and his gambling deck won't be able to help him any.  
Notes: Um... reviews would be nice (in lieu of monetary compensation).  
Legend:  
  
-emphasis-  
  
.: thoughts  
  
"dialogue"

* * *

Lemonade  
Deviant Puppet  
  
-----  
  
Jounouchi Katsuya was royally pissed, to say the least.  
  
The batteries in his alarm clock had died on him while he was asleep, earning the contraption a ticket to the pile of clothes in the corner.  
  
He dashed straight to the bathroom where the door decided that it wanted to get itself stuck. He had to pry it with a fork and pull on the doorknob which, as the day seems to be progressing, came off in his hand.  
  
After a quick shower, he found that his school uniform lay crumpled in a heap behind his bedroom door. It seems the hook holding it in place fell off during his mad scramble to the bathroom.  
  
And to top it off, the only food that seemed safe enough to eat was a half eaten banana that he brown bagged for his father's dinner yesterday. Said father laying motionless on the living room couch, still in his uniform, oblivious to the fact that it was supposed to be -his- turn to buy the groceries.  
  
"This just isn't my day." Jou huffed as he ran the two blocks it took to reach Domino High, the bus that stops across the street having already driven away as he was stepping out from his apartment.  
  
-----  
  
"Hey guys! Wait up!"  
  
For some miraculous reason, he had somehow caught up with Yugi, Honda, and Anzu as they were entering the school grounds.  
  
"Are you alright?" Anzu asked.  
  
"Fine... (pant) Anzu. Just... (pant) just a little... (pant) winded."  
  
"What's wrong with you, man? You look like crap!" Honda greeted as he looked at the wheezing Jou.  
  
I... (pant) I just... just ran... (pant) two blocks! What... (pant) do you think... (pant) you'd look like if... (pant) if you'd... (pant) if you'd done the same, (pant) huh, Honda!?" Jou snapped. He was currently hunched over, his arms propped up on his knees, trying to gulp in all the air he could in the immediate vicinity.  
  
"Aw... is the little puppy tired?"  
  
Jou didn't even have to look. That condescending tone and the obvious smirk in that voice could only come from one person. Kaiba.  
  
.: Not now...  
  
He decided to ignore the insult, knowing full well that if he started an argument now he'd probably keel over from total exhaustion. Not that trading harsh words was ever exhausting. But Kaiba Seto and his usual animosity towards him is a different story altogether.  
  
Jou wouldn't give Kaiba the satisfaction of seeing him kick the bucket with just a few choice insults.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't have run so much, puppy. If I knew you'd be so excited to see me this morning, I would have sent a car to pick you up."  
  
.: Yeah, Kaiba. I was so excited, I almost wet myself. Hn. Just keep doing that for now but once I catch my breath, you're gonna get what's coming to you.  
  
Kaiba leaned down and whispered, "What? Not even a good morning lick for your master?"  
  
.: Good morning lick!?  
  
Jou couldn't help but get red in the face. He wasn't sure though if it was because of the insult or the innuendo. He fought to hide his blush and glared at the young CEO.  
  
Kaiba reached out and wiped something from the side of Jou's lips with his thumb then licked said digit.  
  
.: What is he trying to do!? Give me a heart attack!?  
  
Kaiba arched an eyebrow and smirked as Jou tried and failed to fight another blush. The brown haired boy straightened up, seemingly satisfied with the blond's reaction. Jou was about to breathe a sigh of relief but the young CEO had other ideas.  
  
He let out a yip as Kaiba slapped his ass.  
  
The taller boy sauntered off in the direction of the main building then stopped. He looked over at Jou who was currently holding his stinging backside with both hands and glaring at him. The brown haired boy then fished something out from his school jacket.  
  
"Here." Kaiba tossed the object over his head at the flustered teen. "You shouldn't eat spoiled bananas for breakfast, puppy."  
  
"Don't worry. Mokuba made that for me. You can have it." He paused then added, "I wouldn't want people thinking I wasn't taking good care of my pet." He continued walking and disappeared through the glass doors. Jou just looked on, dumbfounded.  
  
-----  
  
Snapping out of his confusion, Jou yelled after the brown haired boy.  
  
"I-I-I'm not your damn pet, you-you money-grubbing pervert!"  
  
.: Damn Kaiba. Stupid Kaiba. Damn stupid Kaiba.  
  
"...And that was a perfectly good banana!"  
  
-----  
  
"Well, that sounded interesting. What happened?" Otogi said as he joined the three who were just watching Jou and Kaiba's weird exchange.  
  
Honda shrugged. "Don't really know. Jou there arrived really early..."  
  
"Well, that's a first. Who was he talking bananas with anyway?"  
  
"Kaiba. The usual. He's a bit weird today too, though."  
  
"Weird how?"  
  
"He was all... 'nice'."  
  
"Another first. Anything else?"  
  
"Um... Yugi's been quiet since we left his house and Anzu surprisingly hasn't said anything. Anything friendship related, that is."  
  
"I heard that. We're not the only ones acting weird too, you know." Anzu quipped. "Spiky here seems to have a longer attention span than usual."  
  
"Anzu! How could you! That's so hurtful! I don't think we can be friends anymore." Honda mocked.  
  
"Screw friendship. I'm not in the mood." Anzu barked, scowling then giggled at their expressions. "So Otogi, what's with the hat?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
Honda reached behind Otogi and pulled his cap off. The green eyed boy grabbed his cap and practically tried to stuff all of his wavy hair in it, which in its current state was tangled up in a mass of tight curls.  
  
"Bad hair day?" Anzu grinned, barely containing her laughter. Honda just laughed his head off.  
  
"I think I'll reconsider that friendship thing now too." Otogi pouted.  
  
"After you're finished laughing at my expense, I suggest we hurry inside. School's about to start and I still gotta try and 'straighten things out', so to speak."  
  
Jounouchi just stared at his friends, silently chewing Kaiba's sandwich.  
  
.: And they say I'm weird. Go figure.  
  
-----  
  
"So Yugi, what's with the silent treatment?" Jounouchi said after swallowing the last bite of Kaiba's breakfast. It turns out it was going to be his lunch too so he only ate half before the class started.  
  
"Um... it's nothing, Jou... Don't worry about it." Yugi's weak smile didn't convince him though.  
  
"C'mon, you can tell me. Unless it's a secret. Of course, you can't really keep a secret now 'cause Yami's always with you."  
  
Yugi blushed at that and decided to tell Jou his predicament before he goes and embarrass him even more.  
  
"Okay Jou, I'll tell you. Just..." Yugi let out a breath. "Well I... I mean, Yami and me were talking yesterday and... he seemed a little edgy so I asked him about it. He said that today would be a day of misfortune and I should be careful."  
  
.: Well, I guess that explains what happened this morning.  
  
"Don't worry too much about it, Yugi. I mean, my day hasn't been a picnic either but it couldn't be that bad, right?" Jou reassured.  
  
"I can't help it! I mean, it's bad enough that the Shadow Realm's practically following me around and Yami telling me to be careful but did it have to fall on this particular day too?" Yugi slid back on his seat, exhausted.  
  
Jou thought for a moment then grinned. "Look around you, Yugi. Paper hearts on the walls? Do you think it's really that bad of a day? I'd be careful about the sneaky little angels though. Who would trust infants with arrows anyway?" Yugi smiled a bit so Jou continued. "Okay, technically it's tomorrow but at least it's the weekend and... oh..."  
  
"See? Even you have to admit the odds are literally stacked against us."  
  
"Um... Yugi, do you think you could lay off the paranoia for just a sec? It's gonna be fine. We're still all in one piece. And you know we'll stick by each other if something comes up." Jou let out a breath. "And I shouldn't be the one telling you this 'cause you're supposed to be the optimistic one. You know, silver linings in dark clouds or something? Or was that Bakura? Okay, the both of you."  
  
"Well, at least Bakura has an option. It's either Honda or his yami. Or both." Yugi clapped his hand over his mouth, realizing he had said too much.  
  
"So... it -is- about tomorrow." Joey grinned. "I guess Yami's poor hikari is worried that he wouldn't be enjoying his first hearts' day. -Your- first hearts' day. -To-ge-ther-." Jou teased.  
  
"Stop it!" Yugi pleaded. "It's bad enough with the anticipation and anxiety attacks. Now I have to worry about my luck running out before tomorrow comes."  
  
"Sorry. I'm just playin'. If you want, I can walk home with you for protection. Or maybe even sleep over, just to be on the safe side. Of course, I promise to wake up really early tomorrow. I wouldn't want to interrupt." Jou waggled his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
Yugi blushed even more this time, looking like a seedless strawberry.  
  
-----  
  
"Don't you have any plans tomorrow?" Yugi asked silently, changing the topic and trying to calm himself.  
  
"Nope. The whole thing just costs too much. I'll probably just go to the arcade or something."  
  
"What about Kaiba?" Yugi asked after he regained his composure.  
  
"What about him?" Jou looked quizzically at his little friend.  
  
"Nothing. I just thought that, you know... him being all nice to you and all this morning that he and you were..."  
  
"Now that's just crazy talk! Kaiba? Nice!? To Mokuba maybe but to me? Highly doubt it. He's just messing with me again." Jou grumbled, cheeks flushing a good shade of red.  
  
"Or maybe he just wants to mess -around-. With -you-." Yugi teased. It seemed to have worked as Jou's eyes widened at him, jaw dropping.  
  
"If you haven't noticed it yet, Kaiba's hot. And you have to admit that he doesn't pay that much attention to anyone but you." Yugi smirked, the expression a bit out of place on his childlike face.  
  
"Yami? Is that you?" Jou silently hoped that he was right. He didn't know if Yami was the type who liked to tease his friends but he just couldn't see Yugi saying such things.  
  
"No, Jou. It's still me." Yugi smiled angelically. It would've calmed Jou down though if he didn't see the naughty gleam in his eyes.  
  
"Stop that! Don't you go thinking that about Kaiba. It's not right! Not right, I tell you!"  
  
"Why? Jealous?" Yugi was just having too much fun with this but he really hoped that he was right. Jou really needed someone who would take really good care of him. And he knew that if anyone can melt Kaiba's heart, it would most probably be Jou. At the very least, he would be too preoccupied thinking about Kaiba to even think of teasing him when Yami was around.  
  
"And don't think about Kaiba and me that way either!" Yugi just laughed at him. Being too defensive about it really is not helping Jou any. And he was sure that Jou was thinking about the possibility of it happening too.  
  
"That's it!" Jou caught Yugi drooling. "Stop thinking about me and Kaiba! It won't happen! Ever!"  
  
"Okay! Okay! I'll stop but on one condition." Actually, he just let his tongue out and a little drool decided to drip on his mouth. And he wasn't even thinking about Jou and Kaiba at all.  
  
"Anything to stop you making fantasies about us."  
  
"So it's -us- now, huh?" Yugi grinned as Jou slapped his forehead. Better not tick him too much or he's liable to explode. "Hmm... Okay, got it. I want you to thank Kaiba. For the sandwich. You think you could do that?"  
  
"Um... Okay, it's a deal. Now wipe that grin off your face. You look like Bakura's yami when he's really horny." Jou paused. "Um... at least, that's what Honda says he looks like." Yugi laughed and Jou just looked embarrassed. Of all the things Honda had to share stories of, it had to be of Bakura and his equally insatiable yami.  
  
-----  
  
Jou cautiously approached Kaiba by his locker.  
  
.: 'Don't worry,' he says. 'Mokuba made that for me,' he says. Then why am I feeling queasy? Stupid Kaiba.  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Well..." Kaiba just looked at him impassively.  
  
"Just wanted to... um... thank you... for the sandwich." Jou scratched at the back of his neck, looking at anything but Kaiba. The taller boy just raised an eyebrow at him. "So... um... thanks."  
  
Kaiba didn't say anything. Just closed his locker and started to walk away.  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute!" The blond reached out and tried to pull Kaiba back. He wasn't expecting it when the brown haired boy turned on him and pinned him by the lockers. "What?" Kaiba hissed, mere inches from Jou's startled face.  
  
"Um..." Jou gulped. Kaiba's glare had suddenly made him regret even approaching the young CEO. "The least you could do is say 'You're welcome'." Jou whispered. For some unknown reason, he didn't want to upset Kaiba more than he was now. Kaiba just smirked.  
  
"What if I told you a simple 'thank you' wasn't enough?" Kaiba whispered back as he leaned in closer, his breath warm against Jou's red-stained cheek.  
  
Jou couldn't help but shudder as Kaiba's half-lidded blue eyes pierced his own amber ones, a surprisingly pleasant tingle running down his spine. He unconsciously licked his lips, tasting mint on Kaiba's breath as the brown haired boy moved in a little closer. He didn't even feel his school jacket being unbuttoned until Kaiba's hand rested on his shirt-clad side. Or his left hand unconsciously move and rest on Kaiba's chest.  
  
Jou could've pushed him away. But he somehow didn't have the energy to move, to fight, to struggle out of Kaiba's grasp, out of that small enclosure of warmth that he was currently in, seemingly transfixed by some unknown force.  
  
Or maybe it was just Kaiba.  
  
Maybe this -is- the real Kaiba Seto. 'Cause it didn't actually surprise Jou that the young CEO could be like this, this... polar opposite of what he was to the blond.  
  
"Um... Am I interrupting something?"  
  
Yugi had come out of nowhere looking for Jou.  
  
Both boys looked at the unwelcome spectator, the brown haired one with contempt and the blond, defeat.  
  
"Um... Grandpa said it's... okay for you to sleep over, Jou. Just... just don't forget to ask your dad's permission." Yugi blurted nervously.  
  
Jou grabbed at his chest as Kaiba pulled him by his shirt and pushed him hard against the lockers.  
  
"Don't -ever- do that again." And the taller boy stormed off out the door.  
  
"Jou!" Yugi ran toward his friend as the blond slumped against the lockers. "Jou, are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, Yugi." Jou sighed, standing up and dusting off his pants. "Let's go. Your grandpa'd get worried if you're late."  
  
-----  
  
Jou couldn't sleep.  
  
He kept thinking about his day.  
  
The string of unfortunate events that kept happening. Little things really but somehow important and shouldn't be taken for granted. Like breakfast.  
  
His friends. Running into the same streak of misfortune and how they weren't really that much different even if they hadn't been subjected to their own little tortures.  
  
And Kaiba. From plain weird to downright surreal.  
  
Yugi had apologized profusely. The little boy thought that he and Kaiba were fighting and was actually surprised when he said that they weren't.  
  
He didn't exactly know -what- they were doing. But he knew they weren't fighting.  
  
It had been an interesting day, to say the least.  
  
-----  
  
He sat and picked up his bag lying next to him. He pulled out a card from an inside pocket and looked at it.  
  
A Duel Monster with low attack and defense. Kaiba had given it to him before he had stalked off. It was just an ordinary card. Nothing special.  
  
"_A miniscule angel with wings in the place of legs for flight. It shoots a beam that induces euphoria from the heart on its head._"  
  
He pulled out his deck from another pocket and opened its case, placing Happy Lover on top.  
  
.: If life gives you lemons...  
  



End file.
